


The Worst Week

by Fvtvrecatlady



Series: Nonlinear [4]
Category: Mr. Robot (TV)
Genre: Angst, But yeah a lot of this has mental anguish so be prepared for that, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Mental Instability, Post Season 4, They are boyfriends, it's pretty great, non-con but like not really?, none of this is edited btw, the summary sucks ass but I've never been good at summaries, they live together in sweden
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:00:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22842898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fvtvrecatlady/pseuds/Fvtvrecatlady
Summary: Everything seemed to be perfect. Tyrell was with the love of his life and his son in Sweden living an idyllic life. It all comes crashing down when Tyrell comes home to Mr. Robot furiously bandaging Elliot’s bleeding wrists. A story about Tyrell and the week without Elliot. Can be read as a stand alone, but will make more sense with chapter 13 of Healing Isn’t Linear.
Relationships: Elliot Alderson/Tyrell Wellick
Series: Nonlinear [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1583617
Comments: 4
Kudos: 43





	The Worst Week

**Author's Note:**

> Hello Friends. Some of you might have read Healing Isn't Linear but some of you may have not. Basically what happens is that Elliot lets a lot of shit fester and he has a mental breakdown and kind of just shuts off, letting Mr. Robot and the Mastermind try to keep everything afloat. In this universe, Tyrell and Elliot are living in Sweden after finding Tyrell's son. I hope that's enough explanation. Also, I do not edit anything I write because I'm a terrible writer, so if you can get past my terrible writing, I hope you enjoy.

One thing Tyrell doesn’t expect when walking through the doors with hands full of groceries, Flipper’s leash, plus baby is a feral looking Elliot standing in the kitchen with blood all over himself. He drops the grocery bags on the floor in shock and nearly drops his own child. “Jävla.” Tyrell swears, regaining a good grip on Erik. Tyrell’s not able to keep a grip on Flipper’s leash and she runs towards her owner, yipping in worry.

That earns Elliot’s attention and he turns and looks at Tyrell. 

And from the minute they lock eyes, he knows it’s not Elliot. 

It’s  _ him. _

Tyrell briskly walks to Erik’s room and places the child into the crib. He doesn’t want Erik to see Elliot (not Elliot, damn it) like this, so he even closes the door behind him, ignoring Erik’s whines. 

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Tyrell asks, turning around the corner and stalking towards him.

In this time, Mr. Robot has managed to wrap Elliot’s wrist in a bandage. Tyrell can see the dark red stain underneath it. Elliot’s temple is bleeding, a slow trickle of blood oozing from his skull. 

“Saving your boyfriend’s life.” Mr. Robot grumbles, picking up the rubbing alcohol and walking past Tyrell and into the guest bathroom. Tyrell follows him and is met with the sight of splashes of blood all over the tile, with the most of it congregated in the tub. He sees Mr. Robot looking at him through the reflection in the mirror. “He tried offing himself.” Is all Mr. Robot offers, taking a cotton ball and saturating it with the alcohol. He presses it against his temple and flinches at the sting. 

Tyrell feels like he can’t breathe. He braces himself against the doorway. “What?” Is all he can reply. His head is racing with thoughts, mostly of dread and distress. He also feels stupid. He didn’t see this coming. If he was a better boyfriend, he’d know Elliot was in a bad place. How didn’t he know? How had it come to this? 

“Kid was spiraling real bad.” Mr. Robot comments, throwing away a blood soaked cotton ball and wetting a clean one. “He refused to tell anyone though, did his regular self isolating shit. He’s not used to being around somebody who cares about him during these times, so he made sure to keep it real secret. I tried telling him he needed to get help, that lying to you wasn’t going to help matters, only make them worse.” Mr. Robot makes eye contact with him, and if it wasn’t for the wild look in his eyes, Tyrell would think it was  _ his  _ Elliot. But he knows Mr. Robot too well by now. “He’s been lying to you. All those therapy sessions he’s been going to? They’re not real. He’s just been sitting on a bench for an hour every week smoking and feeling like a piece of shit.”

Every word that Mr. Robot says stab him through the heart. He feels like his world is crumbling. Nothing makes sense. Elliot seemed off, but he truly thought it was one of his moods that he’d eventually phase out of. He feels stupid, but most of all hurt. “Why would Elliot lie to me?” Tyrell asks, beginning to cry. “How come I didn’t know?”

“You know him, selfish bastard.” Mr. Robot shrugs, wrapping a bandage around his head. “Or to him, selfless, but that’s one thing we don’t agree on. He didn’t want anyone to worry. Eventually he convinced himself that nobody cared, especially since Darlene wasn’t answering his calls or anything. She’s still real pissed off at him for the stunt he pulled before you two galavanted off to Europe without so much as a goodbye.”

“He told me he was on good terms with Darlene.” Tyrell replies, feeling incredulous and betrayed. 

“Nope.” Mr. Robot replies, popping the p in “nope”. “He kept it bottled in like a true Alderson. One thing led to another and he finally had enough. He had a good breakdown and then this happened.”

“Why didn’t you do anything to help him?” Tyrell asks angrily. “You’re supposed to take care of him and look what the fuck happened.”

This strikes a cord with Mr. Robot, who tenses up. He finishes wrapping his head and turns around. Tyrell’s heart skips a beat at the stare Mr. Robot is giving him. It’s a stare he hasn’t seen since 2015. It’s the look Mr. Robot gave him whenever he wanted to kill Tyrell. “He’s alive, isn’t he?” Mr. Robot says, his tone clipped. “And for your information,  _ we _ let him have control over his own life.  _ We _ had an off hands approach towards him because that’s what  _ he _ wanted. And when he was attempting, you best believe I tried my damnedest to take over, but his will was too strong. He  _ really  _ wanted to kill himself and the fucker almost did but he let his guard down and I stopped him by bashing his head against the tub!” In a fit of rage, Mr. Robot sweeps everything on the sink counter onto the floor. Everything falls with a shatter and Tyrell jumps. “So don’t you  _ ever _ accuse me of not doing my job, fucker! I did everything I fucking could. I’m the reason why he’s still alive so don’t you go around blaming  _ me. _ ” 

They stare at each other in heated silence and Tyrell is reminded that even though this wasn’t his Elliot, there was this pull between him and Mr. Robot. Tyrell loved all of Elliot, and as much as he hated to admit it, he loved Mr. Robot too. And he knew that Mr. Robot felt it too. It’s all too overwhelming for Tyrell, and before he knows it, he bursts into tears. Mr. Robot visibly softens and sighs, stepping closer to Tyrell but still keeping his distance. “He’s just tapping out for a little bit.” Mr. Robot assures Tyrell. “He needs a little break, but I know he’ll be back soon.”

“I can’t believe he tried killing himself.” Tyrell sobs, unable to keep his feelings in anymore. “I can’t believe he didn’t tell me. He almost fucking died. I’m such a bad boyfriend, I should have known something was wrong. Does he not think I love him enough to hear what’s wrong? Did I do anything to break his trust? I don’t understand.”

“Hey, hey.” He feels Mr. Robot’s hands on his arms, grounding him. And if he doesn’t think hard enough, he can pretend it’s Elliot. “Calm down. It’s okay. He loves you. A lot. He just lost sight of where he was.” Mr. Robot explains. “It’s not your fault. It’s his, He was selfish, he wasn’t thinking.”

“Is he okay?” Tyrell asks. “Is he safe?”

Mr. Robot nods, but Tyrell can’t help but notice how wary he looks. “He just needs time. He’ll be back soon.” He lets go of Tyrell and looks around the room. “I think we should clean up, huh?” 

The two of them clean the bathroom in silence, picking up all the things Mr. Robot knocked off the counter and mopping up the blood that stains the tiles and tub. Mr. Robot helpfully pretends to not notice Tyrell falling apart, stopping what he’s doing and crying before returning to his cleaning. He nearly vomits when he first starts cleaning Elliot’s blood. It gives him flashbacks to when he shot his lover all that time ago. He remembers feeling nauseous then too. Tyrell gets to the knife that Elliot used and stares at it before deciding to throw it away. He doesn’t think he could continue using that knife without thinking about Elliot killing himself. 

“We can’t tell Erik about any of this.” Tyrell says once they’re finished cleaning up. Tyrell looks around and it’s almost like one of the most horrible things in his life happened in this room. Mr. Robot looks at him and nods, agreeing silently.

Erik can tell something’s wrong though. Mr. Robot does his best trying to imitate the Elliot Erik knows, but the kid sees right through it. The child pokes and prods at the bandages adorning Elliot’s body and whimpers in worry at the sight of the blood staining the bandages. Tyrell tries to keep it together for the sake of Erik, but he can’t help but keep falling apart. It leaves Erik very unsettled but all he knows is that Elliot is acting weird, not that it's another person. 

The tension is high in the house. Mr. Robot and him barely speak to one another and when nighttime falls, Mr. Robot insists on sleeping in the guest room. “I don’t want to sleep with you.” Mr. Robot grumbled, walking past Tyrell. “That’s Elliot’s job, not mine.”

“Do you think he’ll be back in the morning?” Tyrell asks, ignoring the insult. 

Mr. Robot turns and frowns. “I don’t know. I hope. He’s never gone for long.” Mr. Robot pauses and they both look at each other, both filling in after the sentence  _ usually _ . 

“What if he doesn’t come back?” Tyrell asks, feeling tears well in his eyes. “What do we do then?”

Mr. Robot huffs out a sigh and looks at Tyrell with steel in his eyes. “He’ll come back, Tyrell. Trust me.”

Tyrell gives one last wary look at Mr. Robot before turning around and going to his (and Elliot’s) bedroom. Tyrell can’t sleep that night.

For each day Elliot’s not here, Tyrell doesn’t sleep.

A day becomes two, then three, then four. With each passing day, the atmosphere becomes more uneasy. The two adults play their roles, trying to instill in Erik that nothing is amiss. For the first time, Erik wants to spend more time with Tyrell, not clinging onto Elliot like he usually does. And it hurts to see what appears to be Elliot seem indifferent about it. But he knows it’s Mr. Robot. His only job is to take care of Elliot, he really has no interest in Erik. He’s not cold to the child, but he doesn’t behave as Elliot would around Erik. 

“Why the fuck are you still here?” Tyrell asks angrily on the fifth night. “You said he’d be back, he’s not back. What the fuck are you doing? Are you keeping him from taking control?”

“Believe me, fuckface, I don’t want to be in control.” Mr. Robot snaps back, crossing his arms. “We’re trying to convince him to come back but you know him, he’s the most stubborn piece of shit.”

“He’s refusing?” Tyrell asks incredulously. “Is it that bad?”

They both fall silent. 

Tyrell has answered his own question. It is that bad. Neither of them want to admit it.

“Elliot might not come back.” Mr. Robot whispers on the sixth day. Tyrell looks up from his laptop and stares at Mr. Robot. This is the first time he’s seen him look that scared. And Tyrell can’t take it. He doesn’t know how he’s had the restraint, but he gets up from the couch, reaches into the liquor cabinet, and chugs the entire bottle of vodka.

He sits on the couch and cries, ignoring Mr. Robot lighting a cigarette at the kitchen island.

* * *

On the seventh day, Tyrell tries to act like everything is normal. He goes through the motions of taking care of Erik, mostly occupying his attention with Erik so he doesn’t have any time to think of anything else. 

Mr. Robot paces around the house in silence. The house becomes littered with cigarette butts and normally Tyrell would demand Mr. Robot take it outside but he’s too far gone to care, because if he talks to Mr. Robot, he knows he’ll fall apart and he can’t afford to do that.

So they stay on opposite sides of the house. It feels like a chasm. It is in these seven days does Tyrell realize how much he misses Elliot and that he can’t live without him. He doesn’t realize how Elliot just wedged himself into his life, how their lives were intertwined. It feels like Tyrell’s lost a piece of himself.

Night falls and Tyrell is in the nursery with his son in his lap. They’re in the middle of reading  _ Goodnight, Moon _ when his son looks up at him with his big blue eyes full of tears. 

“Jag vill Ewwie, Pappa.” (I want Ewwie, Pappa.) Erik sniffs. “Var är han?” (Where is he?)

Tyrell stops mid sentence and sets the book down slowly, trying to collect himself. He doesn’t know what to say. He’s barely holding it together. He can’t cry in front of Erik, then Erik would know something was wrong. “Elliot känner sig dålig, älskling.” (Elliot’s feeling unwell, baby.) Tyrell explains, not completely lying. “Han vill inte att du ska bli sjuk.” (He doesn’t want you to get sick.)

“Men jag vill ha honom!” (But I want him!) Erik complains. “Ewwie!”

“Hey, hey, shhh.” Tyrell soothes, rocking Erik back and forth. “Det är okej. Shh. Lugna ner dig” (It’s okay, calm down.) Tyrell stands up and starts walking around the room, rocking his son back and forth, singing a lullaby. The whole time he thinks about Elliot in his place. One of his favorite things to witness was Elliot singing Erik to sleep. Most of the time he’d sing lullabies in English, but one time Tyrell caught him singing in a language he did not know. 

When he asked Elliot about it, Elliot looked sheepish and explained it was a song his mother used to sing to him and Darlene when she decided not to be a terrible mother. “It’s Arabic.” Elliot said. “I don’t speak it. I hardly understand it, but I don’t know, after you sing the entire English lexicon of lullabies, you get bored as hell.” 

Whenever Elliot would catch Tyrell watching him during these moments, he always got so embarrassed. At first, he’d falter and tell Tyrell to go away but when Tyrell wouldn’t, he’d sigh and continue singing. 

Eventually, Erik fell asleep in his arms and Tyrell gently lowered him into his crib, kissing the crown of his head before leaving the room. He walks down the stairs and to the living room to grab a bottle of vodka when he sees Elliot sitting outside on the patio through the screen door. He stops in his tracks and just stares. He can feel it in his gut that it isn’t Mr. Robot, he can just tell by the posture. He walks over to the screen door and slides it open.

“Elliot?”

Elliot turns around and looks at him. He looks tired and closed off, but also shocked? But from a glance Tyrell feels like this is his Elliot. Tyrell doesn’t wait for a response, his instincts take a hold of him and he kneels down in front of Elliot and pulls him into a kiss. At first Elliot doesn’t kiss back, almost like he’s too stunned to do anything, but eventually, he melts into the kiss and kisses back in desperation, fisting Tyrell’s worn t-shirt. 

The kiss ends too early when Elliot pushes Tyrell away and scoots as far away from him as possible. “This is wrong.” Elliot says, standing up and creating more space between them.

Tyrell tries to get closer to him. “Elliot? What’s–” 

“I’m not him.” Elliot blurts out, looking at anywhere but Tyrell’s eyes. “I’m the other one.”

Tyrell stops in his tracks and just stares in disbelief and shock. No wonder he thought it was Elliot, the Other One and Elliot were almost the exact same person. Even after Tyrell was made aware of Elliot’s DID, he still thought the Other One was Elliot. He knew Elliot before the Mastermind took over. The only difference he noticed between the two of them was the jadedness and rage the Mastermind brought with him, but Tyrell just thought Elliot had changed.

“I shouldn’t have done that.” The Mastermind says, pacing around the garden. “He was right. I’m selfish. I should have never come out.”

“Elliot…” Tyrell says, trying to calm him down. The Mastermind didn’t have a name, Elliot explained to him. The other alter’s referred to him as the Other One. The Other Elliot. “Why are you here?”

“Mr. Robot wanted to try to talk some sense into Elliot. I told him it wasn’t a good idea for me to occupy the body, but he didn’t listen.” The Mastermind rambles. “It’s wrong. I shouldn’t be out here. Elliot should be. I should have never kissed you. I was weak. I proved him right.”

“What are you talking about?” Tyrell asks, taking the Mastermind and stopping in his tracks. The Mastermind tenses under his grasp.

“It’s not important.” The Mastermind insists. “What’s important is that we have to figure out how to get Elliot back. The stubborn son of a bitch is refusing to come back.” Tyrell does not voice how ironic it is hearing the Mastermind call Elliot that.

“Why?” Tyrell asks, helplessly. “Have you spoken to him?”

The Mastermind nods and sighs. “I’ve been trying. At first he was angry that we stopped him but now he’s accepted that he doesn’t deserve to live and is just letting us take over.” He shoves his hands in his pockets and looks away from Tyrell. “He wants me to take over. But I won't, it isn’t right.”

“How can I trust that you won’t?” Tyrell asks. “He’s told me how you tried before, what makes me believe you won’t do it again.”

That clearly pisses the Mastermind, who finally looks up at Tyrell and glares. “I’ve changed. I know my place in his life, even if he forgets it. We’re here to protect him, not take his place. I was created to make a better world for him. I’m still here to do that, even though in the past I lost my way, I was there for Elliot Alderson when no one was. And everyone seems to fucking forget it! Even Elliot himself!” 

Tyrell doesn’t know what to say to this, so he just stares at the Mastermind. He can’t help but think about how much the Other One reminds him of his Elliot, even in his overwhelming rage. 

“I’m…” The Mastermind takes a breath in to collect himself. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to freak out like that. It’s been a long week for all of us. Elliot’s in a really bad place, he’s been taking it all out on us. And you know him, when he gets this way he knows where to really strike a chord. I’ve been spending the most time with him, so he’s been a complete asshole.”

“What has he said to you?” Tyrell asks, curious. After not being around Elliot for so long, he’s desperate to hear any little thing. It’s funny how Elliot Alderson was able to have that much attention revolve around him without even knowing it. 

The Mastermind balks at that. “It’s really not important.” He insists. 

“I know how he gets when he gets angry.” Tyrell replies. “As much as he says people confuse him, he sees the truth in people. He knows how to hone in on your truth and flaws that you never want anyone to know about, but somehow he does.” Tyrell can’t help it, the Mastermind is so much of a mystery to him and there’s an itch in the back of Tyrell’s mind to figure him out, same as it was when he first met Elliot. And there’s something about the Mastermind that always makes him want to proad. And why did the Mastermind kiss him back? The whole year they interacted, Tyrell could feel this pull towards the Other One and he knew the Mastermind felt it too. But everytime Tyrell tried to push things further, the Mastermind always resisted, keeping his distance. It was almost like subconsciously that the Mastermind knew what Tyrell had done to Elliot in the past. The Mastermind was just like Elliot but heightened. 

“What, are you trying to make me tell you what he’s said to me?” The Mastermind asks. 

“You kissed me back.” Tyrell states. “And then you immediately regretted it, saying he was right about something. What was he right about? Why did you kiss me back, let me believe it was Elliot instead of you?”

The Mastermind looks away from Tyrell and at the ground, silent. Eventually he does say something but it’s so quiet Tyrell almost doesn’t hear. “He accuses me of wanting his life.” The Mastermind admits. “And he’s right. I do. But there’s a difference between wanting and actually having it. I know that he deserves his life, this life. And I want him to have control, I really do. But I can’t help feeling envious that he actually gets to live and pursue everything that I wish I could do. I envy the fact that he gets to just exist. That’s why I kissed you. Because I never got to when I was in control, even though I knew that I wanted to, something always held me back. It was like my subconscious knew you were someone special in his life before I came around. But I kept my distance. I had something great to achieve and I didn’t need you to distract me. But when you were dying in the woods and you leaned in close to say goodbye, I wanted to lean in. I wanted to kiss you. I wanted you to close that gap between us. But you didn’t. Even to the end you kept your distance. And when you walked away I felt like I fucked up. Whiterose showed me how I fucked up. And so when you kissed me thinking I was Elliot, I couldn’t help it.” The Mastermind looks overwhelmed and Tyrell can’t help but think about how often he sees that same expression on Elliot’s face. But unlike with Elliot, Tyrell does not make any move forward to comfort him. That’s Tyrell’s relationship with the Other One: distance.

Also, Tyrell doesn’t know what to do with that confession. 

“And I’ve seen the life he’s lived since he’s taken back control. And it’s beautiful. He’s recovered so well from my bullshit. He has you, Erik, Darlene… it makes me wonder how unhappy he must be to not see it.” The Mastermind looks up and makes eye contact with Tyrell, and for the first time the Other One seems confident. “All I know is that he needs to come back and actually live his life. I don’t know how well Mr. Robot will do in trying to convince him but I think I know what to do.”

“And what is that?” Tyrell asks.

“Darlene.” the Mastermind says. “That’s the one thing that always grounds Elliot to reality, or really all of us. She’s not in the other world, because in a sea of constants, she has been the most consistent thing in his life. If we can find a way to contact Darlene and tell her what’s going on, I think it’ll shock him back into his senses.”

“How bad is it with Darlene?” Tyrell asks. “I literally did not know anything about he and Darlene’s relationship until Mr. Robot came around and said they weren’t talking.”

“It’s pretty bad. She hasn’t been answering his texts or calls, which I guess he kind of deserves.” The Mastermind replies. “He never told Darlene what he was doing in that week he was ignoring everyone, I don’t think she knows what exactly he’s doing in Sweden either. I think she’s blocked his number.”

Tyrell has to keep himself from rolling his eyes. If anything, he would describe the Alderson siblings as dramatic. “So how are we supposed to contact Darlene then?” he asks.

“Through you.” The Mastermind replies. “I know you and Darlene don’t exactly see eye to eye but I doubt she’s blocked you. You need to call her and explain everything that’s been going on. As much as she claims to hate you I know she trusts you.”

Tyrell feels stupid that he didn’t think about that before. He was just so lost in the fear of this limbo becoming a constant that he wasn’t thinking. “My phone’s inside.” Tyrell replies. He doesn’t tell the Other One to follow him as he walks back into the house but the Mastermind follows anyway. As they enter through the sliding door the Mastermind looks around the living room. Tyrell watches as the Mastermind picks up a picture on a table and looks at it. Tyrell’s been getting more into photography since they got to Europe. It was one of the things he liked to do as a young man. It was actually how he met Joanna. She was a struggling model and Tyrell offered to photograph her. 

The photo in the Mastermind’s hands was one of Elliot and Erik. Tyrell remembers that day like it was yesterday. Tyrell loved being able to have Elliot’s skin see the sun, so he proposed that they go to the beach. Elliot was very resistant, not very confident in his body in general, but eventually with some coaxing, Elliot was shirtless at the beach in swim trunks. It was one of the greatest moments in Tyrell’s life and he just had to document it. Elliot had been letting his hair grow out as well so there was a beautiful curl to it. The photo was of Elliot gently leading Erik to the water. The kid was just learning how to walk and held onto Elliot’s index finger with his little fist. Tyrell had snapped the photo at the right moment: Elliot was looking down and smiling and Erik was looking up and smiling back. When Tyrell framed it Elliot was embarrassed but admitted it was a good photo. 

Tyrell broke away from his thoughts and reached for his phone, sitting on the coffee table in the living room. It was late, almost 12:30 am. But he knew Darlene would be awake, it was only 6 pm in New York. He opened his contacts and scrolled to Darlene. He felt nervous as he clicked on her number and pressed the phone to his ear, pacing around the living room. He ignored the Mastermind staring at him.

On the fourth ring, Darlene picked up. “Tyrell?” she asked. “Why are you calling me?”

“Darlene, something happened.” Tyrell replies, glancing at the Mastermind who looks nervous.

“What’s wrong?” she asks, sounding very panicked. “Is something wrong with Elliot?”

He goes on and explains the events of the whole week. He has to pause several times to allow her to sob into the phone. He keeps asking her if he can keep going and she gives him affirmation, but he can tell it’s hard for her to hear it. He tries not to describe the sight of the bathroom to her, knowing from Elliot she’s prone to panic attacks. He thinks he probably triggered a panic attack from what he’s told her, but he has no choice, he has to keep going.

“Darlene, I need you to do something.” Tyrell says finally after getting her to calm down a bit. “It’s going to be hard, but you’re the only person who can do it.”

“What is it?” she sniffs.

“You have to talk to Elliot.” he replies. “You’re his tie to reality. The Other One thinks it’ll work.” 

“What if he doesn’t come back?” Darlene sobs. “He didn’t come back when the Other One took over for that whole year. What do we do if I’m not enough?”

“Darlene. You will be enough.” Tyrell encourages. “Please. We’ve tried everything.”

He listens to her cry more and he feels like his heart is dangling on a string. 

“Okay. Yeah. Sure. Let’s do it.” She finally says. Tyrell lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. 

“Okay, great. I’m going to hand the phone to him.” Tyrell says. “Darlene, it’ll be okay.” Tyrell isn’t sure he believes his own words. He turns to the Mastermind and hands the phone to him.

The Mastermind takes it with shaking hands. “I’m going to take the call outside.” he says. Tyrell and him look at each other for a moment. The pull between them is strong, and Tyrell can’t help it. He walks up to the Mastermind and tilts his chin up and kisses him gently. The Mastermind is tense underneath him.

They part and the Mastermind looks dazed. “Please bring him back.” Tyrell whispers, resting his forehead against the Other One’s. “I need him.” Tyrell’s the first one to break away, walking to the dining room table and sitting with his hands folded. 

The Mastermind looks at him one last time, looking like he wants to say something. But he doesn’t. He turns around, opens the glass door, and steps into the backyard. Tyrell watches as the Mastermind puts the phone to his ear. He can’t hear anything that’s going on but after a while, he sees his shoulders shaking, and he can’t help but spring up from his chair and walk closer to the window.

Elliot’s body is wracked with sobs, but Tyrell doesn’t know if it’s Elliot. The worry gnaws at him and he starts pacing around the house, never losing sight of Elliot out in the garden. 

But then, Elliot’s eyes flick up at Tyrell and they lock eyes. And it may be for just a second, but Tyrell knows even before Elliot looks away that it worked.

It’s his Elliot. 

He waits for Elliot to come back inside, but he watches as his boyfriend ends the call, and sits down on a patio chair. Tyrell just stands at the glass doors, watching as Elliot stares blankly ahead, lost in thought.

Tyrell doesn’t know how much time passes, but eventually he can’t take it, he slides open the glass doors and walks towards Elliot. As the distance lessens between them, Elliot doesn’t seem to notice him. Tyrell notices how exhausted he looks and his heart hurts.

He stands in front of him. 

“Elliot?”

Grey eyes look up at him.

Familiar.

Safe.

Warm.

It’s him. He’s back. 

**Author's Note:**

> I had to write this. I couldn't get it out of my head. I hope it wasn't shitty. If you liked this and haven't read Healing Isn't Linear, then I suggest you do! I think it's a pretty good fic. But anyway, I hope you enjoyed. Comments and kudos are appreciated!


End file.
